First off the block are Celtic who are just awaiting the rubber stamp from Football Federation Australia before a three game tour is confirmed. Meanwhile AC Milan, who secured their 18th Italian title on the weekend, is in advanced negotiations with Sydney FC for a game later this month.
In a week where it was revealed FFA had rejected a $25 million offer to underwrite the A-League from Newcastle Jets owner Nathan Tinkler, these developments offer crucial money-spinners for local clubs struggling to make ends meet.
With grants from FFA barely covering half the salary cap, severe restrictions on commercial opportunities and numerous misguided stadium deals, opportunities for A-League clubs to supplement their revenue are few and far between.
Yet these friendlies walk a fine line between offering an exciting opportunity for a club’s fans and simply extorting money from supporters who already fork out significant amounts in the name of their club.
That’s certainly how I’d consider some past tours where spectators have been asked to pay a premium price to watch an out of season, second string side jog around for 90 minutes.
In such cases the lack of a spectacle means these tours end up offering more to the fans of the visiting club than the hosts’.
Another key facet beyond pricing is selecting the right opposition for the right occasion. Clubs like Fulham and Boca Juniors might have seemed interesting in theory but struggled to draw the kind of crowd and media attention that would have justified their visits.
The same can’t be said for LA Galaxy’s friendly with Newcastle last year, a game that captured the imaginations of Novocastrians and was an unqualified success.
Thankfully promoter Lou Sticca seems to have taken notice with General Admission tickets for the Celtic games set to be both affordable and numerous.
So if promoters and clubs can find the right balance between these different facets, then I’ll gladly welcome such initiatives. In the meantime, I continue to view these tours with skepticism.
Peter Wilson
Roar Guru
Its very hard to please football fans these days - there is bitching and moaning about just about everything at the moment. People complaining we didn't have any quality friendly games and now people complaining that friendly games are a waste of time and money. LA Galaxy got big crowds because of David Beckham - if he wasn't playing for them the crowds would have been similar to other touring teams. People who want the A-League to fold and criticize it to death will be moaning that we don't have a national football competition - be careful what you moan for. The Sydney Festival of Football comes around again in July and is fully underwritten by the state government, so don't worry about crowds and whether its making any money, just go along and enjoy some good international club football.
Stevo
Guest
Red Star Belgrade would be massive! And what about the potential for flares!!!!!
BenZ
Guest
Just a thought. Wouldn't it be cool if there was an A-league 11 that played visiting sides? Just a gimmick team like the American NFL pro bowl teams but instead of playing another all stars team playing visiting European teams.
Jojo
Guest
oh man i hope AC MILAN is coming!!!
agga78
Guest
Celtic did a lot on their last tour, they got paid about 500k for the game, put on a charity dinner, put on clinics for the kids in Brisbane, had open training sessions and 25k Celtic supporters went to Brisbane and drank the city dry, well we certainly ran out of beer at the pub I was in. So not all clubs come here to suck the mango, but do offer something back.
Davo
Guest
I think it is good that we are moving away from solely been about bringing EPL sides out here. I think bringing an italian team out would be great, admittadly i am not a huge fan of Italian football, but considering the amount of Italians in Australia i think a game involving any of Inter, Ac Milan Roma etc would bring a huge italian crowd to the games. There was something like 39,000 at the Juventus game and they played a second string squad! I say bring out teams like, Porto, Valencia, Lyon, Ajax. There not exactly world beaters, but they are quality sides and they would really bring out a great crowd if modestly priced. I think that bringing out any team which is a Champions League regular would cause alot of people to come to games purely to see how good 'Champions League Football' is live
Titus
Guest
AC Milan would be huge! I think July would be better for Sydney, as they will be starting pre-season and their squad for the new season should be beginning to take shape. If the price is fair, I would be there with quite a few mates.
whiskeymac
Guest
yep good crowd, good media and Van Strattan in goal, I think?Less glittering but not bad eiher were Celtic last season.
Michael
Guest
As long as the A-League clubs get some money and the fans are interested, then why not? Frankly, I'd rather watch Celtic against the Jets than LA Galaxy but that's not what the "non-core" fans thought and they turned out in their thousands, despite the outrageous pricing. Beckham was OK, ticked the right boxes. Donovan was pretty good too. Hope the Sydney festival of football gets up again this year.
Elifanti
Guest
A few years back Juve beat the Victory 4-1 in what was quite a watchable game, best remembered for Carlos' volleyed goal from outside the box.
Elifanti
Guest
A case of unlucky timing I'd say.
whiskeymac
Guest
good points, but i am more inclined to go down the more the merrier path - our guys need to play as many as possible and even if the teams like fulham only attract 10K so what - its still good experiences and something to talk about wherein there is normally not very much else to do. the ticket prices need to be reviewed and the marketing improved but are the games for spectacle or practice? If to see how we are travelling then bring over all and sundry top flight teams from foreign leagues to get as much media and gametime in the off season as possible. If for spectactle well the top teams may come but they will ask a lot of $ to do so (and the prices will be high to maintain porfit you'd think). AC wld be a good one spectacle wise - and you'd assume horribly one sided....
awaba
Guest
the Tele reports ... THE bid to bring AC Milan to face Sydney FC on May 28 has run aground thanks to the logistics involved, but hopes remain of staging the game in July. Despite Milan losing their Coppa Italia semifinal yesterday and so becoming available to make the trip, a lack of time to market the game and ensure sufficient ticket sales overtook negotiations last night. The game was due to be played at ANZ Stadium, and promotor John Denison said: " I understand ANZ remain keen on trying to play such a fixture in July so we will continue to work towards that end."
Tifosi
Guest
"Meanwhile AC Milan, who secured their 18th Italian title on the weekend, is in advanced negotiations with Sydney FC for a game later this month." Davidde on twitter you said : More crap news: AC Milan contact has just confirmed to me NO Australian tour going ahead. ????????